Images, live-streamed video, and tweets from the scene suggest a police presence more befitting a military operation than a domestic protest. At some points throughout the night, tear-gas canisters and rubber bullets were fired into crowds, sometimes falling on the front lawns of private homes.

Antonio French, an alderman from the 21st ward in St. Louis, was among the 10 people reportedly arrested on Wednesday. French was kept in jail overnight, and released sometime around eight A.M. Thursday morning.

Journalists were not safe from the wrath of security forces. Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post and Wesley Lowery of The Washington Post were both arrested, reportedly while working on stories in a McDonald’s. Officers in riot gear ordered them to leave the restaurant. Both journalists said they were assaulted, and added that they neither intended nor desired to become part of the story. Reilly, who has reported from Guantanamo Bay, said that Wednesday’s police “essentially acted as a military force.” Both journalists say they were not read their Miranda Rights.

“The worst part was he slammed my head against the glass purposefully on the way out of McDonald's and then sarcastically apologized for it,” Reilly said on MSNBC, after his release. Writing of his own arrest, Lowery said that, despite cooperating with arresting officers, he was “slammed into a soda machine,” and the encounter was “when I was most afraid—more afraid than of the tear gas and rubber bullets.” Both journalists were freed shortly after being booked and placed in a holding cell. Despite repeatedly asking, they were not told the names of their arresting officers. Editors from both publications sternly condemned the arrests of their staffers.

A Los Angeles Times reporter tweeted that Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson said he ordered the journalists’ release, and that the officers who arrested them were “probably somebody who didn't know better.” It’s discomforting that officers who don’t “know better” than to arrest the media are carrying military-grade weaponry.

Images shared on Twitter appeared to show police officers firing tear gas at Al Jazeera America journalists. After the film crew ran to avoid the gas, officers appeared to disassemble the media’s lights and cameras.

The SWAT teams, armored vehicles, and snipers preceded any unrest on the part of the protesters. In a Wednesday afternoon video posted by Reilly, officers are seen taking position behind guns on tripods on the roof of an armored truck.

The name of the officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Brown on Saturday has yet to be revealed, fueling frustration within the local community. The Ferguson Police Department said on Wednesday it needed to protect the safety of the officer, who has received threats. The department also said the officer in question had been treated for swelling in his face.

“This is America, not a war zone,” Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted Thursday morning. “The people of Ferguson just want answers. We all want answers.”

As the grim scene unfolded in Ferguson, President Barack Obama was attending a birthday party on Martha’s Vineyard. At the party, where representatives of Hillary Clinton had earlier said she hoped to put tensions between her and Obama to rest, the President and First Lady “danced nearly every song,” per a White House readout. “A good time was had by all,” Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz wrote. Shortly after midnight, Schultz tweeted that Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett and Attorney General Eric Holder briefed Obama on the Ferguson situation.